Before the Requiem
by The Knight of Thirteen
Summary: A very short one-shot. C.C.'s point of view, the morning before the Requiem. C.C./L.L. Minor update after some proofreading. No significant changes.


**_This takes place the morning before the Zero Requiem. C.C. decided that Suzaku should know the man he was about to kill for who he was, not for who he has been pretending to be. Was telling him the right decision?_**

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She was laying languidly on Lelouch's bed, watching the activities going on before her. It was a strange feeling she felt. Something she had forgotten. She was afraid, but filled with anticipation. She knew she was going to lose the only man who had ever truly loved her through no fault of geass.

But she also knew she was going to stand as witness to something that had never happened before and she would never see again, no matter how many centuries she endured.

She was going to watch a man, armed only with the Power of the King and a childhood friend, take onto his shoulders the entirety of the worlds hatred, and he was going to die to bring peace. A man, who had conquered the world and was willing to relinquish his grasp for the sake of others.

The most selfish and selfless man who she had ever met.

But what chance did the world have of denying him? When he and his knight stood together, who could stand against them? Together, there was nothing they could not do. She had witnessed it herself.

How long had Lelouch fought with an entire army on his side? How long had Suzaku fought on the side of an almighty empire? But once they were united, how long had it taken for the earth to fall before them? Together, they were a force beyond anything that the world had ever known before.

She watched Lelouch leave the room. He looked ill. Even the demon king could feel anxiety, it seemed. Suzaku was far worse. She knew how it must torment him, to have given up his own path for reform and joined with his love's murderer.

And Lelouch would never tell him the truth. He would lose his dearest friend, always believing he had killed Euphimia for his own gain. She frowned. It wasn't right. Suzaku deserved to know that Lelouch was not the demon he pretended to be. He also deserved to miss him as much as she would.

She rolled off the bed and onto her feet with a single graceful movement, and walked quietly over to the desk where Suzaku had sat to think over what was coming.

"Suzaku..." She tried to think of how to say it. She finally gave up and opened the bottom drawer of the desk, pulling out a thin black book. Lelouch's journal.

She flipped through and found the entry she wanted.

_Today, I lost my control over my geass. I can't turn it off, and any command I give, even if I don't mean it as a command, or to carry any power, is laced with the power. I lost my elder sister today... My dear Euphimia... She wanted what I wanted. We could have had peace today. I had revealed my identity to her. I was going to join her..._

_But now everything has changed. I had to kill her. But the worse crime was what I did to her first... I destroyed her. I turned that innocent heart I loved so much into a monster. And I will never be able to claim my closest and oldest friend again. He watched me murder the woman he loved, and he can never know why._

_I am beginning to see the path take shape before me. I'm beginning to understand what I will have to do to accomplish my goal. And it hurts worse than I could ever imagine, to know that I will lose everyone I have ever held dear if I want to save them._

Suzaku stared open mouthed at the journal. He closed his mouth and eyes, setting the journal on the desk as the tears slipped out.

"We'll carry on according to his plan... Never tell him that you showed me this..." Suzaku handed her the journal and stood.

"We are alike, you and I. We both love him more than he will ever know. I'm his shield and you are his sword. We have stood by his side longer than anyone else, and we'll be the only ones who know why he died. Spend your last day together, as the friends you always should have been."

Suzaku stared at her for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Lelouch would spend his last day with his best friend, and his last night with his witch. And tomorrow he would face his death with a courage no one but they would ever know he had.

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_**Sorry it was so short. Please leave a review!**_


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